Such appointments need no confirmation on may 12 cj

Such appointments need no confirmation.
On May 12, CJ received from Malacañang, the appointments of the 2 Judges of the RTC
mentioned. Considering the pending proceedings and deliberations on this matter, the Court
resolved by refraining the appointees from taking their oaths. However, Judge Valenzuela took oath
in May 14, 1998 claiming he did so without knowledge on the on-going deliberations. It should be
noted that the originals of the appointments for both judges had been sent to and received by the CJ
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EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
on May 12 and is still in the latter’s office and had not been transmitted yet. According to Judge
Valenzuela, he did so because of the May 7 Malacañang copy of his appointment.
In construing Article 7 and 8: when there are no presidential elections, Art. 8 shall apply
where vacancies in SC shall be filled within 90 days otherwise prohibition in Art. 7 must be
considered where the President shall not make any appointments. According to Fr. Bernas, the
reason for prohibition is in order not to tie the hands of the incoming Pres through midnight
appointments.
Issue:
whether, during the period of the ban on appointments imposed by Section 15, Article VII of
the, Constitution, the President is nonetheless required to fill vacancies in the judiciary, in view of
Sections 4(1) and 9 of Article VIII; whether he can make appointments to the judiciary during the
period of the ban in the interest of public service.
Held:
The provisions of the Constitution material to the inquiry at bar read as follows: 3
Sec. 15, Article VII:
Two months immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end of his term, a
President or Acting President shall not make appointments, except temporary appointments to
executive positions when continued vacancies therein will prejudice public service or endanger
public safety.
Sec. 4 (1), Article VIII :
The Supreme Court shall be composed of a Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. It may sit en
banc or in its discretion, in divisions of three, five, or seven Members. Any vacancy shall be filled
within ninety days from the occurrence thereof.
Sec. 9, Article VIII :
The members of the Supreme Court and judges in lower courts shall be appointed by the President
from a list of at least three nominees prepared by the Judicial and Bar Council for, every vacancy.
Such appointments need no confirmation.
For the lower courts, the President shall issue the appointments within ninety days from the
submission of the list .
During the period stated in Section 15. Article VII of the Constitution — “(t)wo months
immediately before the next presidential elections and up to the end his term” — the President is
neither required to make appointments to the courts nor allowed to do so; and that Sections 4(1)
and 9 of Article VIII simply mean that the President is required to fill vacancies in the courts within
the time frames provided therein unless prohibited by Section 15 of Article VII. It is not noteworthy
that the prohibition on appointments comes into effect only once every six years.